ATR ~ My View

[tedthewolf]

Have been here a year and a half now and ATR section has changed a fair bit since i became a member and for the better. My reason for saying this is for example if you look at the tips put up this week not just at Royal Ascot but all the meetings there was a wide range of horse tipped up to suit all tastes ie short priced horses for favourite backers decent priced horses at a single digit price for anyone wanting to have a win bet at decent odds and big priced horses for the e/w punter not forgetting the lay bets for those that like to lay and there was a wide range of people putting these up from guys like myself who our not as knowledgeable as a lot of others but put time and effort and do there best then there is guys like russ p who looks to way the race will be run etc to the likes of Billy The Punter who is semi pofessional at the game and never stop reading the form then there our the guys that have specialist threads like JTW stats and the thing that was so good was that everyone contributed this week by putting up winners. What i like best about ATR now is the amount of people putting up big priced horse something that was scarce 18 months ago.

..... thats only my opinion what's yours

[TheRat]

Been on here for about 2 and a half years myself
Great is all I can say. Learned so much from other, improving is possible for people like myself because others take the time and effort to post up their tips and reasoning, and also I fins the discussions very interesting
Times have changed from when I was a kid and I used to ask my parents why horse racing was on tele becuas eit was so boring!
A few people on here were brought up with racing but not me, hated it until I was about 19, then got into gambling for fun and eventually it was this place that got me into racing, first off just following the great tips, then learning and posting my own....

All i can say is thanks to everyone on here. Everyone contributes in some way, support a plenty, and as I mentioned, if people just kept their knowledge to themselves or didn't take the tim to post on here then people like me would find it difficult to learn about this great sport and try and batter the bookie

[jtw1]

I think that ATR is now the best forum for Racing selections on the web .
Just look at todays Ascot thread and you'll see what i mean .
Totally agree with Ted about the variety of tips/selections posted on the forum . It really does cater for every kind of bettor and can only keep going from strength ot strength

[TheRat]

I'd also like to comment on how its improved since I arrived.
Better with the daily thread and a lot more competitions for people to get involved with etc
Admins do a great job

[stewartd14]

Since I stumbled across this place 2 years ago, ATR has grown and grown. I hardly remember it back then and that has to be a credit to how the mods have moved this place forward. The Best bet of the day competition has blossomed with it frequently attracting 20+ posters, and this just shows how popular this section of the forum is, even on a Monday. the meeting threads frequently receive quality posts and we have the specialists putting hours of work into the form book and trends to throw up brilliant winners.

We also have BillythePunter who has helped many with his detailed and informative write ups, along with the numerous winners thrown up along the way.

We are always trying to come up with ideas to expand ATR and the help from you guys is appreciated.

This truly is a brilliant forum and just keeps going from strength to strength. New members are appearing all the time and it is great that so many learn so much from the regulars that frequently post.

The admin put in by BillyHills to keep the Best bet of the day thread alive and kicking is also exemplary, and deserves a huge round of applause.

[bowles10]

guys, some great comments here & much appreciated. Its nice to see what you all think every so often. Been here now many years & came to PL wanting to expand my football betting. Found that the ATR was so quiet & a few of us really started to push it with new ideas, comps etc. I was asked to become a mod on here & that was an honour for me & perhaps i felt rewarded by the work i had put in.
I must say its never been in better shape & thats why so many people join & then stay. Be brave but also try to comply is my advice to any lurkers. Over the past couple of years 2 punters I would like to note are Billythepunter & Gingertipster both of whom have different methods but whom spend all their hours studying & then give it away on here for nowt. I cant thank them highly enough but its also the dedication of those posters putting up thier daily bets / analysis / specialisations that make the place tick. there is room for more, much more but at the moment we have quality & the best quality i have seen on the web also. Cheltenham for me this year was a new era for us having our own sub forum for the meeting which will be a permanent fixture for that meeting every year now as it was such a success.

to all take a bow

[welshman443]

all i would like to say is that i have been here since feb this year,I really enjoy it i have learned a lot,its friendly and i was made welcome which counts for a lot, i have noticed lately that there as been a lot of guests visiting the site which goes to show how popoular this site really is,all i can say to them is if your thinking of becoming a member is that im sure you will be made to feel welcome,and i dont think you will find a better forum,

[mowgli77]

One word - reasoning, without it we would be 2nd rate and pointless. There is no point putting a list of horses you fancy, it is uninformative and useless to a punter. The tipsters that get noticed like Russ, Ginge, Billy, Bowles, WoodyTHFC etc just to name a few do so because they provide reasoning with their tips. If they just put a list of horses each day would you still follow them without knowing WHY they fancied them???

I haven't been very active on here recently and for that I apologise, especially to the mods, been spending more time on an evening taking my little boy to the park, playing football with him etc and got a lot going on with a change of employment in 3 weeks etc etc. I used to log on straight after work, go through form for a few hours but I was neglecting my boy or he was asleep and that is wrong. I try reduce the amount of races I'm looking at, still try get some form studied when I get chance but as Billyhills has previously said it's hard to get back into if you are away from it for a while and not watching races, studying results etc.

The racing section is top class and anyone who makes a worthwhile contribution has a part to play in that success. The lurkers may think it is a bit cliquey but that's initially what I thought. You'll soon get noticed, you'll certainly get welcomed and you'll be part of ATR if you want to join in and contribute. I enjoyed the Cheltenham section this year, felt I played my part in that and spent many hours doing race previews and getting some good ante post prices. The only thing we probably lack is more racing discussions but then other forums cater for that. Also nothing wrong with constructive criticism, I made an error today with Gulf Express (the draw), we just won't accept piss taking and slagging off peoples bets.

I'm sure we'll keep moving from strength to strength and I hope you'll all still be here to play a part in it.

[TheRat]

Well said Phil. As for discussions though I think this is one thing that is actually picking up now, and over recent weeks. definatly something we may have lacked but I feel this is not the case anymore

[shedboy7]

Hi guys!

Thought I'd get my tuppence worth in! Was thinking of posting a long overdue thank you anyways so this thread seems quite appropriate.

I stumbled across this site about a year ago. After the football season finished I was missing my gambling fix!! My knowledge of horse racing is pretty much non existent. Some would probably say the same about my football knowledge as well!

I have to say I think this place is great. I don't really contribute to the forum in terms of posting but I'm on it pretty much everyday. The amount of time and effort that people put into this is nothing short of phenomenal! There are days when I don’t have a bet but I’ll come on here and have a look to see how your selections get on. I don't punt big style so if I choose to follow somebody's tip and it loses it's no big deal. When it wins though, that’s a different story!

I now follow RussP and Mowgli77 religiously. I love the value they seem to get from their selections but I think you’re all deserving of praise. This week in particular has been good for me. I deposited £25 in my Betfair account at the start of Royal Ascot and have withdrawn £100 and I’ve still got £30 odd remaining. They’re not great sums of money but I’m well chuffed so I just want to say thank you again to everyone. Cheers.

[bowles10]

shedboy - dont worry about the amounts mate, there are plenty that would love to be £100+ up after 5 days of top class racing. Glad to see you are following some of the guys on here, they put a lot of work in & these comments make it all worthwhile.

[billy the punter]

I came here in March when looking for Cheltenham trends and stayed ever since.

Due to the way we bet thesedays (in front of a lap top for 80% of my working life), it can sometimes get a little boring during the day. PL is a great way to keep you focused and a great place to vent your spleen about the bad ride you just suffered etc.

I enjoy submitting to to the forum, and if I've helped anyone along the way I'm happy. More than happy to contribute to a great forum that helps us all. Although I must say the lurker thing annoys me.

There are some great opinions on here, all different, which creates a friendly competitve atmosphere - with the BBTOD tables etc.

I agree with others that we need more discussion on here. I try and start a few threads but it seems it's only a minority of us that really want to discuss and not just use the place to get some info. I will continue to try and stoke some debates up though.

And of course the mods do a fantastic job. Much appreciated.

Long may it all continue

[BillyHills]

This section began back in Feb 2004, 211 pages ago. If you click 'last page' at the top you will see how it all started, interesting to see on page 208 a certain 'Bowles10' tried to drum up some posts on the Cheltenham Festival 2004, Not much has changed there then!!

Seriously though it shows how the ATR has evolved over the years and how much Rob has helped make it a success. I've been a member of the PL since 2001 yet didnt venture into the ATR for a while, my reasons were at that time I felt you had to be part of the crowd and was always put off by the lack of response to anything you said and afraid of being ridiculed for posting duff horses.

Over the years many have come and gone, we have had spells where we have had 'certain types' that dont fit in with what we are trying to achieve at the PL, thats always bound to happen and sometimes the Mods got slated for some decisions they made, looking back I think we chose the right path to go down and now we have a balanced bunch of likeminded people. A lot of discussion goes on behind the scenes, this doesnt just happen by luck believe me.

Most of you know i'm a moaning old git and some things do niggle me from time to time, but I usually say so and move on, its only because I care about the place and a good debate can be healthy on occasions.

As racing fans we all know about the bad days more than most sports but its important not to lose sight of why we are all here day after day.

I've always said its great when guys tip winners but for me its much more than that, its the effort, the passion, the knowledge, the advice and the appreciation that makes it all worth it.

[RussP]

I think it has all been said above

It's a great place to be and we now have more contributors than ever before. So many diverse views, I've learnt so much in my time here. Thanks guys.

[AK1979]

This is the best racing board on the net that i've come across. I know we sometimes come across as fussy when we demand reasoning with peoples selections but thats what sets us apart from other boards such as betfair, which is 90% garbage. My Dad still phones telephone lines on a Saturday which drives me absolutely mad as the call will cost him a fiver for some jibber jabber from a clown on the other end of the line, whereas he can get infinitely better stuff here for free.

You wouldnt believe what this place was like if you turn the clock back 5 years, there was only about 5 posters I think!